Nineteen
by evieeden
Summary: Bella tries to decide what to do about her imprint with Seth. Continuation of Fifteen. Advent story written for 24th December.


**Happy Christmas Eve everyone. Today's advent fic, which I got a bit carried away with, is a continuation of Fifteen, one of the advent stories that I wrote last year. I think you can probably read this as a standalone as well though – it's pretty self-explanatory.**

**Once again, time constraints and a lack of internet mean that I am my own beta for this, so once again I've tried to iron out most mistakes (including a massive switch of POV at one point), but I might have missed some along the way. And as I must always say, I don't own anything to do with Twilight.**

**Nineteen**

There was a welcome committee outside the Clearwaters' house when I pulled up. I supposed I should have expected it, Leah had promised me help with unpacking, but I didn't expect the whole pack to be there.

Leah was there too, sat on the edge of the porch, her legs swinging over the edge. She pulled an apologetic face when I met her eyes, but they were all here now, so I guessed I would have to just put up with it.

At the sound of my truck pulling up three other people exited the front door of the house. Sue and Charlie, finally a couple and the reason why I was returning home from college and moving onto the Res instead of back to Forks. And Seth, who offered an easy smile and a wave.

I tried to smile back, but from the way his face immediately fell into a frown, I don't think I quite pulled it off. He took a step in my direction, but was held back by the heavy hand of Sam Uley that landed on his shoulder.

Truth be told, I really didn't want to get out of the vehicle. After the disaster of last summer, I had avoided coming home as much as possible, citing final year studying when Charlie had questioned me. I still wasn't entirely sure what my reception would be like within the pack.

Last year I had mostly been greeted with condemning stares and mumbled curses.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and slid down to the floor. Trying to smile awkwardly again, I lifted my hand in greeting.

"Hey."

As if that was the cue everyone had been waiting for they all surged forward. Jake was the first to greet me.

"Bells!" Grabbing me about the waist, he pulled me off my feet and swung me into a hug. "You're looking good, honey."

"Jake." Well, at least one person was happy to see me, but then I always could count on my best friend to be there for me through anything. "How have you been?"

He set me back on my feet and grinned at me. "Same old, same old. Been looking forward to you getting back though. It's been boring as hell without you."

I smiled at him, my first genuine smile of the day.

The bubble we were in didn't last for long though, and seconds later he was bodily shoved away from me by Quil and Embry who each hugged me. They were followed one by one by each of the rest of the pack and their imprints.

Well, apart from two.

Paul just scowled at me and Sam remained up on the porch by Seth, nodding in greeting but not moving.

I guessed I wasn't completely forgiven just yet.

Barking orders, Leah somehow managed to get the boys into some kind of order to unpack my truck and with much pushing and shoving, I was somehow left with my dad, Seth, Jacob and an empty truck.

Great. This wasn't at all awkward.

Sensing my discomfort, Jake slung his arm over my shoulders and began slowly but surely towing me towards the house. The second I was on the porch, he cut and run.

"I guess I'm just going to go and keep the guys from breaking anything."

Coward.

Another deep breath was needed before I turned to look at my father.

"Hi Dad."

He opened his arms and I practically fell into them.

"Hi baby girl," he muttered roughly into my ear. "It's good to have you back."

I hugged him tighter. "It's good to be back." For the first time this year, I actually meant it. There was something just so calming and steady about Charlie. Even after he had witnessed the wolves phase and been drawn into the supernatural world, he had stayed resolutely level-headed. I needed that now more than ever.

"We've got you for a while now, huh?"

I pulled back so I could look up at him. "Yep. When school starts back up again, I'll be the new librarian."

"It was lucky for you to get a job so near," he commented.

Yeah, lucky. Essential, more like.

I had already pushed the imprint as far as it would go by leaving the reservation to go to college, but it had been the one thing that I wasn't prepared to give up and the pack had compromised by sending me away with a 'watch-wolf' for company. Leah might not have been my best friend at eighteen, but I had been her council-sanctioned excuse to leave La Push and take up the scholarship that she would've had to give up otherwise.

"I suppose I'm just lucky that Mrs Roberts announced her retirement this year. It was kind of perfect seeing as I was moving back."

Charlie studied my face carefully for a minute and I struggled to school my expression into one of casual nonchalance.

"As long as you're happy," he finally said.

I summoned a smile once more – my cheeks were starting to ache – and nodded.

"Okay," he finally conceded. "I'm going to go and help Susie with getting lunch ready, especially since we got everybody around today.

Patting me on the arm, he disappeared into the house, glancing quickly back at me as he left.

Which left me alone... with Seth. My imprint.

I stared at the ground, unsure what to say to him. He didn't break the silence between us, but I could feel his eyes on me, doing their usual assessment of my body, searching for injuries. It was the first thing he did every time we met – the wolf reassuring itself that its mate was safe.

Finally he raised his eyes to mine.

"Hi."

"Hey."

He grinned, but there was still a shadow on his face as he did so. "Do I get a hug?"

I blinked. I hadn't realised until now that I was hunched over, my hands jammed in my pockets. No wonder he'd felt like he needed to ask when I was stood so defensively.

"Of course," I said quickly.

Opening my arms, I stepped towards him and was pulled into the warmest, most relaxing hug possible. I closed my eyes as I pressed my face into his chest and I could feel Seth's nose rootling around in my hair, taking in my scent, before he buried his face in the crook of my neck, each one of the tense muscles I could feel under my hands gradually loosening.

We stood there holding each other for what seemed like an age, until a knowing cough came from one side.

I jerked away from Seth guiltily and turned to face Leah who was watching us with a knowing look on her face.

"Mom says dinner will be ready in second. You might want to come and make your plate up before the wolves descend." She cackled at her own joke.

"Right. Sure." I nodded. "I'll go do that."

With an unsure glance back towards Seth, I followed my friend into the house and towards the kitchen.

Dinner was awkward. I sat huddled between Jake and Seth, picking at my food, as the pack flitted around, stuffing their faces and watching me carefully. I hadn't expected an easy time when I came back, but this was becoming seriously uncomfortable.

All around me the pack were talking about things they were doing and plans they were making and although I knew that their lives had moved on in the last four years, it made me feel incredibly left out.

It felt like I was stuck while everyone else moved around me.

I had nothing to tell them that they didn't already know. Leah reported back to them anything I did while at college and anything I told Jake or Seth eventually was circulated around the pack. They, on the other hand, still kept themselves and their lives separate from mine.

Sometimes it felt like they were punishing me for not accepting my imprint straight away.

In some ways it still felt wrong to me though. Seth had imprinted on me when he was just fifteen, and throwing myself into a relationship with him had seemed deeply wrong at the time. Plus, back then she had still been in a relationship with Edward and confused about her burgeoning feelings for Jake. It would have been a total mess for her to leap headfirst into accepting the imprint.

However, not everyone felt that way.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked quietly. "You've hardly eaten a thing."

I mustered up a smile for him. "I'm fine; just tired. I think packing up and then travelling down today has worn me out."

He smiled and nodded, but like mine, his expression looked strained.

"I think I might have an early night," I announced.

I just needed to get away from everyone for a while, get some sleep and start afresh tomorrow.

Ignoring everyone else's curious stares, I gave both Jake and Seth quick hugs goodbye, trying my best not to sink into Seth's embrace as I did. With a brief smile at Leah and a kiss on the cheek for my dad, I returned my plate to the kitchen and then escaped upstairs.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I finally shut the bedroom door behind me. Sinking down to the floor, I rested my head back against the door and closed my eyes. Every bone in my body felt tired but the bed looked so far away.

Tonight had been... trying. I could only hope that the longer I stayed, the easier it would be. I also hoped that given time the rest of the pack would get over my little...

I didn't want to call it a mistake. It wasn't a mistake. I had known exactly what I was doing.

It had happened last summer at a party celebrating the end of finals. I had been having a great time at college. It was fun, I was learning and I was gaining life experience, but there was always the niggling feeling in the back of my head that I was missing out on so much.

Everyone else had grand plans for their future, whether career-wise or travelling or just throwing everything into fate's hands and hoping for the best. Yet I knew exactly what I was doing, what I was expected to do.

I was finishing school, going back to La Push and eventually, I would get together with Seth. That was the plan that everyone had agreed on.

It chafed at me, especially the relationship part.

I liked Seth, I really did. He was sweet and he was kind and he was always happy to see me, but at the same time, I couldn't help feeling that both of us were missing out. I wasn't sure that I was his perfect soul mate after all – how could I be? And my own feelings saw him more as a sweet kid brother rather than a prospective partner.

So I went to a party after exams that I had been invited to and there, after a few drinks for Dutch courage, I had slept with one of the few male friends I had made. I didn't love Joseph, but he was safe and kind and he made me laugh. I liked him and he liked me, and although we had agreed that maybe having sex was a step too far afterwards, we were still friends.

It had been a small act of rebellion, one I hadn't even thought about really much at the time.

I hadn't realised that the wolves would immediately be able to tell what I had done when I returned last summer, or that they would take it as a personal insult to one of their own. Especially because outside of Seth, I had thought that the person who would have the most problem with my actions would be Leah.

Instead, she had taken one look at me when I stumbled back into our shared apartment the next morning and promptly wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Oh, Bella."

She hadn't said anything beyond that and so I wasn't expecting anyone else to.

How wrong I was.

So for the last year, I had been subjected to derisive glares, muttered comments and Seth's pained, but accepting face. Luckily, most of them appeared to have gotten over any lingering resentment for the perceived slight against their pack brother.

Hurting Seth had been the last thought on my mind. I had never wanted to do that.

All I had wanted was a little freedom, the right to choose how I lived my own life.

Now that I had returned to La Push permanently, it felt like that small piece of independence I still had was about to be chipped away, piece by piece.

It was an incredibly disconcerting feeling and it left me exhausted.

Sighing again, I heaved myself up off the floor and shuffled across the surprisingly tidy room. It looked like Leah had cracked the whip when it came to putting all my belongings away. Digging through my drawers, I managed to locate my pyjamas and dragged them on, barely making it to my bed before I fell asleep.

In the next few days, I established a mini-routine to keep myself occupied during the summer before the school reopened and I took on my new job.

In the mornings, I went to the diner and helped Sue out, while Leah was on patrol. I got on well with Sue now, a lot better than when her son had first imprinted on me anyway. It turned out that all I had to do was break up with Edward and not abandon Seth to get on her good side. Along with Leah, she was one of the few people in La Push who understood why I hadn't jumped into a relationship with her son straight away. I guess she saw my caution when dealing with Seth as a way of preserving his innocence for as long as possible. I mean, it was. He was far too young, but the selfish part of me had done it because I couldn't cope, rather than for his benefit.

Then, in the afternoons, I would meet up with either Seth or Leah and we would meet the others down at the beach or over at one of the pack houses.

It was strange, seeing Seth everyday again after so long. Talking to him nearly every day on the phone was one thing, but to actually be able to look at him, to see the different expressions on his face when I spoke was kind of fascinating.

We were still just friends.

I had to admit that on the odd occasion I did find myself checking him out. Often, I'd only realise when Leah or Jake would nudge me knowingly.

I was finally beginning to see him as he was though, rather than how I remembered him. Before, when I had visited the reservation during vacations, Seth had always appeared to me to be exactly the same as he was the day he imprinted on me. I still saw him as that smiley, baby-faced boy that had hero-worshipped Jake and had bounded up to my best friend and I before freezing as he looked at me.

Now he looked much like the other wolves had, particularly Sam and Jared, when I had first met them.

He had grown even taller, towering over me by more than a foot now, and his face had become leaner, the last of his baby fat melting away and exposing sharp cheekbones and a defined jaw. I thought he kind of looked a little more like Leah and Sue now, rather than resembling his father more closely as he had before.

His eyes were what had changed the most.

Wide, open and trusting before, they were now harder, wiser, like he had been through wars and come out the other side. It was a look that only came from age and experience and I knew that part of that was down to me and my actions.

He still had kind eyes though. That hadn't changed.

He was also still one of the sweetest boys I had ever met.

I could feel that we were becoming closer now that I was back, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. On the one hand, I knew that the imprint meant that Seth would never have a relationship with another woman, but on the other hand, although we were becoming more than just friends, I still didn't feel particularly romantic towards him.

It was a dilemma and one that I didn't have any answers to.

It was a few days later when Charlie knocked on my bedroom door.

"Hey kid." He stuck his head around the door. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure." I turned around from where I was sitting on the bed and looked at him expectantly. "What's up?"

He hummed and hawed a bit before finally crossing the room to sit on my desk chair. Fidgeting uncomfortably, he eventually leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped.

I picked at my bedcover as I waited for him to say whatever it was he had come to talk to me about.

"So, it's been good having you back, Bells." He smiled at me. "For a while there I thought you'd maybe stay in the big city once you were done with college."

"It's good to be back," I stated honestly. "I forgot how much I liked being here, especially down here in La Push. It's so peaceful."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose it's easier living closer to Seth now."

That caught my attention and I jerked my head up to stare at him wide-eyed.

He laughed dryly at my expression. "Oh come on, Bella. I didn't get to be Chief by being a complete idiot. It's been obvious that you and he are hung up on each other."

My protest came automatically. "I'm not hung up on him."

Charlie leaned back and pursed his lips. "Maybe not...not yet anyway, but that boy's certainly got a thing for you. He can barely look away from you when you're in the same room."

I didn't know what to say. "Dad..."

Luckily, he interrupted me before I had a chance to come up with some lame explanation.

"I know by the way."

"You know?" I asked. "About what?"

He shrugged. "Sue explained it to me. You and Seth have some kind of supernatural attraction that only the wolves get." He pulled a face. "I didn't really understand much of it, only the basics, but I found out enough. It explains a lot really – like why Sam Uley ditched Leah for her cousin and Harry didn't bat an eyelash." He frowned. "I always thought that was peculiar. If it had been me and my daughter that boy messed around with then you can be damn well sure that he'd have a bullet wound the next day."

I bit my lip. I knew that Charlie had found out about the wolves, but I hadn't realised that Sue or anyone else had spilled the beans to him about imprinting.

He coughed to clear his throat. "Anyway," he continued, "it also explained why you dumped Edwin so soon after getting back together with him."

"Edward," I corrected automatically.

Charlie smirked underneath his moustache. "Can't say I was too unhappy about that."

"Dad!" I objected.

"You're a good girl, Bella. I'm proud of you for doing the right thing under the circumstances."

"The right thing?" I snorted. It had never sat well with me how I ended my relationship with Edward, despite that I knew at the time and even now that it was the right thing. "You never liked Edward."

My father scratched the back of his neck. "Now, in all fairness, Bells, the boy never gave me much reason to like him, now did he? Always skulking around the house, creeping into your room at night, – now don't you think that I never knew about that – lying through his teeth every time he spoke to me. And you kept getting hurt." He ran a hand through his hair and for the first time, he let his concern for me shine through his eyes. "Every time you were with him, you got hurt, and I'm not just talking physically, I mean emotionally too."

"Dad..."

"Do you know how much it worried me to see you building your entire life around him? You were going to go to the same college, you never spent time with anyone other than him and his family, and every time he disagreed with something you said or did you changed your behaviour." Charlie paused for a moment, the words getting stuck in his throat. "I'm a cop, Bells; do you know how many times I've been out to domestic calls where the woman has been beaten half to death just because her boyfriend or husband 'loves her' too much. It scared me to see you acting like that. So yeah, I was glad when you broke up with him, no matter the cause."

I picked at my nails, my head bowed.

"He let me go though, Dad. He didn't argue or anything."

"It's the one decent thing that boy did for you then, Bella," Charlie said gruffly.

I looked away.

Charlie cleared his throat again.

"That's not what I came to talk to you about anyway."

"You came to talk about Seth," I guessed.

"I came to tell you not to push away the people that love you because you're afraid," he stated bluntly. "You might tell me that you don't feel anything for that boy, but don't give him hope if there is none and don't push him away if you do feel something."

He coughed and turned his head to stare out of the window, not looking at me directly for the first time during this talk.

"I know you've never had much to go by when it came to relationships – your mother and I made a right hash of our marriage and unfortunately, you had to deal with the fallout – and I'm truly sorry for that, Bella. And I know you'll make your own mistakes, heaven knows, I'm not going to judge you for them, I've made enough of my own, but I just..."

He paused, overcome for a brief second. I let him pull himself back together in silence, pretending that I hadn't noticed.

"I realise this must be difficult, what with us living here with Sue and the kids and everything, there's a lot of pressure there, but I just want you to know that whatever you decide with this... soul-thing... that I'm on your side and I'm here for you no matter what you decide."

A lump welled in my throat and grateful tears came to my eyes as a wave of affection for my father swept over me.

"And if you need to talk..."

I wiped my hand across my face to catch an escaping tear.

"Aww hell, Bella." My father leapt to his feet. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't," I said quietly. "You just..."

I scrambled off the bed and flung myself at him, wrapping him tightly in a hug. He hugged me back equally as firmly.

"Love you, Daddy," I told him.

"Love you too," he replied.

His words stayed with me for the rest of the day, through the lunch shift, when I was getting ready for the bonfire that evening and as I walked down to the beach with Seth. All I was could think of was whether I was letting my fear get in the way of a good relationship or whether I wasn't prepared for a relationship at all.

Seth noticed my distraction.

"Is everything okay? You've been quiet this afternoon."

"Hmm?" I looked over at him. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind today. Sorry."

"No problem." He beamed at me and I smiled back. "You know I'm here for you if you want to talk, right?"

That was the second time someone had said that today. Clearly my family and friends thought that I was massively repressed, although I knew Leah had thought that, and even said it on occasion.

"Thanks, but I'm good for now."

He nodded but now his smile appeared a little more forced than before.

I nudged him with my shoulder to try and cheer him up, but inside I was cursing myself. I just couldn't get it right when it came to Seth, and I hated hurting him, even unknowingly.

Not for the first time, I wondered what the hell the gods had been thinking.

We walked the rest of the way in awkward silence and once we had reached where Jake was sitting, Seth left me to go and talk to Collin and Brady. I stared after him, feeling strangely bereft.

"Bells... Bells!" Jake caught my attention. "What was that about?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing... I think."

I avoided looking over to where the others were sat, all of them staring curiously between me and Seth.

"Come on," Jake said softly. "Let's go for a walk."

With a quick nod behind me at Seth, he threw his arm over my shoulders and towed me away from the already gossiping pack.

He made sure we were out of earshot before he spoke. "They're worse than a bunch of old ladies sometimes."

I felt compelled to defend them. "They're just trying to look out for Seth."

"Does Seth need looking out for?" he asked.

I stopped walking and Jake turned to face me.

"Has he said anything?" I was almost desperate to know.

Jake looked out to the ocean and shook his head. "He keeps his thoughts about you pretty well locked down," he explained. "I mean, we can all tell how much he adores, but the other stuff... I wouldn't tell you even I could."

I nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you."

Jake met my eyes once more and studied my face.

"So what's the problem then, Bells? You and Seth were all weird today when you came over."

I dug one of my toes into the sand and twisted it around, avoiding his knowing gaze.

"I talked with my dad today," I admitted. "And I've been doing some thinking."

"About Seth?" he clarified.

"About Seth," I confirmed. "About me. About me and Seth."

I ran my fingers through my hair, tugging it away from my face.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I looked at Jake contemplatively. Of everyone who had offered to talk to me about Seth today, my best friend was the only one I considered seriously.

"I don't know if I can do this," I confessed to him.

"Do what?"

"This. Me and Seth. I don't know what to do with him, what to do with me, anything." I was starting to hyperventilate.

Jake reached out and gripped my shoulders.

"Just breathe, Bells," he instructed.

I followed his instructions, trying to calm myself once more. It was ridiculous how worked up I was getting.

"Okay," he said, once I had regained my composure. "Now tell me, exactly, what the problem is, because I thought that you and Seth were getting on great."

"We are. We were," I replied quickly. "He's been great."

"But...?" he prompted.

"I like Seth," I confessed. "But I don't know if I'll ever like him, you know, _like that_. And that terrifies me because then what am I supposed to do? What is _he_ supposed to do?"

Jake's arms fell to his sides and he shuffled uneasily. "So, you don't feel anything for him?" I could hear the dread in his voice.

I rushed to explain. "No. Yes. I mean, yeah, of course I have feelings for him, but I have no idea if they're even the right sort of feelings and what am I supposed to do if they're not."

It suddenly struck me that given mine and Jake's past history, that maybe he wasn't the best person to be talking about this with.

Luckily he came through for me.

"But what if they are? What then?"

I shrugged.

"Bella." Jake sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Anything."

He nodded and took a deep breath, squaring himself up. "Have you even tried?"

I was completely lost. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you ever tried to think of Seth as more than just a friend and Leah's little brother before?"

I opened my mouth to answer and then stopped. My automatic reply to say that of course I had tried to think about Seth romantically stalled in my throat.

Had I?

I had only thought recently that I was looking at Seth differently now, but again that image of Seth when he was fifteen...it haunted me.

And maybe it was why I had such a problem with the imprint.

Age. It all came down to age.

From when I was young, I had seen my mother rail against getting older, especially when it came to her younger boyfriends. I guess I hadn't realised just how much of her attitude had transferred over to me and affected the way I viewed the whole issue.

At the end of the day, I still saw Seth as being stupidly young and feeling ridiculously old by comparison. So no, I hadn't thought of him romantically. I had safely filed him away in the 'friend' box in my brain.

I looked up at Jake in dawning realisation.

He smirked and draped his arm around me once more. "God, you're completely oblivious sometimes, Bells."

I automatically put my arm around his waist and he gradually began towing me back in the direction of the bonfire.

At first I didn't understand why we were walking back towards the bonfire when we hadn't finished talking, but as we got closer, I could smell the meat that had just been placed on the bonfire. It all made sense now. Jake might be my best friend, but he was also a wolf and a hungry wolf at that.

"So," I said as we walked back, "what do I do now?"

Jake froze. "I don't really know. I mean, I've never tried to treat a dude romantically before."

I huffed at him, but couldn't help my amused smile. "But what about with girls?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Well, the last time I had a girl I seriously liked, I took her to my garage and plied her with warm soda."

"Jake!" I smacked his arm. "What about other girls?"

He grinned and then started moving again. "Well, I don't usually have to romance them, as such. Normally I just flash my muscles and they fall at my feet."

We had reached the crowd now gathered around the barbecue by now.

"Yeah right," I scoffed.

The first lot of burgers were flipped over and Jake's eyes lit up.

"Go." I pushed him towards the food.

With a quick flash of a grin at me, he dove into the mad frenzy that constituted dinner around the wolves.

I took a step back to avoid the mad rush around me and noticed that Seth wasn't amongst the men clamouring for food. Instead, he was sat by himself a far distance away from the light of the fire.

My feet automatically began to walk in his direction.

I paused when I finally reached him. "Hi."

He jolted as if I had managed to surprise him. "Oh, hey Bella."

I gestured to the fallen tree he was sat on. "Can I join you?"

"Sure." He shuffled to one side and I perched down tentatively next to him.

We both stared out into the darkness. My brain had gone blank again.

This shouldn't be this difficult. Seth and I were already friends.

But how did you go from that to trying to see someone as a romantic partner? It seemed like far too big a step.

"So Jake thinks that you and I should go on a date."

That was kind of what he'd said, wasn't it?

I stared resolutely forward, ignoring that out of the corner of my eye I could see Seth turning to face me, his expression shocked.

"Jake does, does he?" His tone was incredulously and also slightly mocking.

I blushed, heat rushing up my neck and making my ears tingle.

I tried to save the situation, but just ended up sounding more like an idiot. "Well, he does...sort of... and I do too... maybe. Because you and I have never really been anywhere before when it was just us and we were away from La Push."

I finally drummed up the courage to look at him, only to find him staring at me with his mouth hanging open. I couldn't tell whether he was good-shocked or bad-shocked.

It suddenly hit me that maybe we were just friends for a reason.

"We don't have to," I told him hastily. "I mean, I know you think you have to do what I say because I'm your imprint... but I don't want you to be uncomfortable or anything... so it doesn't have to happen... unless you want... but not like..."

"Bella." He interrupted my panicked ramble. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

He ducked his head and it actually looked like he was blushing himself a little.

"It might be totally rubbish though since it'll be my first one, but if you'd like to go out, then I'd love to take you."

His eyes widened hopefully and I couldn't resist leaning over to briefly press my lips to his. A shy smile formed on his face when I pulled back and he ducked his head down.

I couldn't help smiling in return, although I did struggle to avoid blushing again.

Turning my attention back to the moon-crested waves, I felt his hand creep across to slowly take mine.

As I laced my fingers through his, the warmth of his hand leeching the cold away from my skin, I felt like I could maybe get used to this.

It was nice, this...Seth and I.

Together.


End file.
